Day 28- July 19

Day 28: July 19th 35,804 miles on the odometer
Maintenance day; neither of us rides the bikes at all. Yesterday we picked up oil, filters, and some tools. The tool kits that come with the bike are woefully inadequate for the job, so we have to get a ratchet and some sockets as well as a filter wrench to change the oil. 7,000 miles is a long way to go between changes, but I figure that running Mobil-1 full synthetic oil on a lot of highway miles is OK. Still, Ceci’s oil is a bit dark when I drain it. Mine isn’t as bad, as I’ve added a quart and a half of new oil as we’ve traveled.
I also give the bikes a good once over and lube my chain. Ceci’s Vulcan has shaft drive, so I don’t have to worry much about hers. (Or so I thought) Despite what Bubba thought might be a slow leak of gear oil from the rear, the fluid level is fine and doesn’t appear to have leaked a drop on our trip. The left handgrip on her bike is starting to work its way loose, and it has slid about a half inch off. It takes a little bit of doing to get it back where it belongs. One of the metal tabs on my fuel tank was bent in the hurricane damage years ago. I don’t notice it until I see the plastic fairing mounted to it has begun to rub on the frame and is wearing itself away. It is a pretty easy fix to bend the tab out and cure that problem.
The bikes are starting to look a bit grimy from the road and could use a bath, but I leave them alone in that regard. I look at the road grime as a kind of badge of honor. I limit the cleaning to wiping up the oil from the change and washing the bugs off the windscreens and headlights.
I work at a leisurely pace but still have plenty of time to finish the maintenance, work on rebuilding the itinerary yet again, and cook up a batch of my Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken. Ceci has spent most of the day visiting with her step-mom so it has been a good day. We cap it off with a visit to the ballet at an outdoor park. Ballet ain’t exactly my thing, but it is time spent with family. I figure I can at least cross it off my list so I won’t have to do it again. The highlight was when a very large limb cracked and fell off of a nearby tree.